I lived in Japan. Most expats (granted, not engineers) are in agreement that Japan feels like 2050 for technology but 1950 socially.
There is zero PC-sensibility, zilch, doesn't exist in their culture. It's also a man's society, women are expected to give up their careers after marriage. Race is deeply ingrained in their world view in a way that would anger PC-conscious Americans.
There is also zero culture of accepting integration from people who are not Japanese by blood. Go to your Japanese girlfriend's family's get together and listen to them mention how the Japanese are a superior race to Westerners (maybe that was a fluke but I doubt it from swapping stories). Mention that it's relatively accepted that the Japanese descended from the Koreans and watch how people react.
Listen to seemingly progressive 20-something at bars talk about how Chinese people are unclean.
After all, they believed their political leader was divine until the end of WWII and they built an empire based on their hierarchy of races up until the end of WWII, much like NSDAP's 'project' but without receiving the same kind of international backlash (a wave of pacifism yes, but backlash for the racial elements not so much).
They have a culture of friendliness towards foreigners which is awesome, unlike say China, so you don't fully see this side of Japan until you live there.
I really do love Japan, I have zero ill will towards the country or it's people, but it's simply wrong to claim it's socially progressive in almost any way by Western standards.